Google Analytics

Google Analytics has been the default web measurement tool for nearly two decades, and GA4 — the event-based rewrite Google completed in 2023 — extended that footprint into mobile apps and cross-device attribution. The free tier is genuinely capable: real-time dashboards, audience segmentation, goal tracking, and an Explorations workspace for freeform funnel, cohort, and path analysis. The tight integration with Google Ads, Search Console, and Looker Studio makes it the path of least resistance for teams already inside the Google ecosystem.

The friction surfaces on two fronts. GDPR and CCPA compliance is the first: GA4 fires cookies and routes visitor data through Google's US infrastructure, so most EU-facing properties need a consent management platform and cookie banner. When visitors decline, that traffic disappears from your reports — a systematic blind spot that can account for 30–40 percent of sessions in privacy-aware markets. Data sampling is the second: standard GA4 properties hit thresholds in the Explorations workspace on heavier traffic, distorting the conversion numbers you most need to trust.

A subtler concern is data ownership. Google processes and retains your visitors' behavioral data under its own terms, the attribution logic can shift with product updates, and there is no self-hosting path. That combination — compliance overhead, sampling, and no portability — is what drives teams to audit whether a lighter, privacy-first alternative might serve them better.